Judgement of Paris
by CommanderClakre
Summary: We are playing a dangerous game, you and I. Legends shouldn't be as foolish as we are. Or Clarke falls into a deathly game of taking power within the Nations and Tribes that rule across the Woods and Seas alike after her defeat on Mount Weather and has the burden of the label 'Legend' inscribed deeply within her name.
1. Chapter 1

Our worlds are named after the greatest Gods that ever lived. Our religions are varied, our lives different from one another. We are all separate by belief and by view. Our eyes want to process what they find pleasure upon. We are not skins with skeletons in us, we are brains within a skeleton surrounded by skin. By ichor. We are Gods. We are Kings and Queens. We are adventurers. We are explorers. We are leaders on our own and within our own. We are the wise men in the group and the Warriors in battles. We our space travelers by night, storing memories and events of our past life within the stars all through closed eyes. Deep in the universe. We are **_almost_** immortal.

* * *

"People don't change overnight." It was low, but still carried a heavy weight with years of war in it.

"I did. I changed overnight." My eyes were still locked on the fire in front of us, watching the yellow flicker and the embers falling to the ground. Her eyes shifted to me, to stare. I feel them. They are looking at me as if I am a blank canvas and they are a pallet of paint. It made an uneasy feeling brew in me, pushing my head and my eyes to meet hers. Neither spoke, the words were there. They were written on invisible torn papers that hung on light strings, waiting to be picked like rose petals in spring. I had no intention on grabbing one, but in my head I saw her arm reach up and yank one off sadly. Her eyes don't leave mine, the words on the invisible paper seep through her skin like ink and make their way into her veins. Then, like the venom that lays under the tongue of a snake, they come out and hit me in the face.

"You would sleep better if you weren't so weak. Then, that way, you wouldn't be up in the darkest skies of the night, thinking of all your wrong doings and letting them feed off of your brightness." They sting at me the same way alcohol stings on a cut. There's two kinds of people. The ones who bite their tongue at the stinging sensation, and the ones who thrash like animals when their predator bites down on their neck. I'm that animal, except, my predator was slower tonight, less expecting of a hit such as the one I was delivering. It was quick, but it was also a mistake. My knuckles had not fully healed from the earlier connection with an attackers face, they were fresh opened wounds that I only seemed to make worse. There is also the fact that while she might not have expected the hit, it's doesn't take long for her to react either. Her other hand, the one that wasn't holding on to her bleeding nose, blocked my fist which was on its way to crash against her face once more but failed and was pushed against the wet and muddy ground above my head. I felt my other one in the same position as her body hovered over mine, her hips pinning me down and her knees on either side of my waist. I felt a strong sensation on my right temple before her once grey eyes turned black along with the rest of the world around us.

Then suddenly, much like space, it was dark.

* * *

Before there was Earth, before there was the sun and any concept of light, there was darkness. In that darkness there was a strong voice that shook with want and with desire. But most of all, with determination. And that voice said, "Let there be light", and so there was light. A light so strong and so powerful that it created life. It held the smallest to the largest beings. It held the universe and it held the stars and the galaxies. It held our home. Our bodies were in that light, our emotions and our actions to come. They were all brewed within it. That powerful voice created Gods and Men. It gave the Gods a power and a duty to fulfill, but that is all. It did not bother to set rules for these Gods to follow. So the Gods did as they wished, and so fear was born in the heads of men. It was a fear that created cruelty that controlled our actions towards one another. A fear so strong that it is impossible to think beyond it, to think of something softer and less deathly. This fear has been spread like a disease much alike to that of the Black Death for millions of generations. It kills us in our sleep and it kills us in wars. It makes us feel powerless when we put such a strong front to be powerful. We think we can surpass it, but no, that was not the intentions of the Gods. They wanted us to live with it. To die with it. To reincarnate with it. The moment the thumping in our chest begins, so does the fear. It's no stranger to me, the weight of it pushing down on me like the armor of a Knight, reminding me that while it may guard me and help me make brass decisions, it is also what will one day kill me.

Sometimes I listen to the elders here in Polis telling these stories of enemies falling at the hands of small soldiers and I think of the small chunks that they play in my life. Those who have fallen and those who continue to live due to the unspeakable acts that fear has made me do. It's almost tiring, really, washing my hands everyday only to see more blood on them after drying them off. Some might say that the water I drink and bathe in is not water at all, but blood itself. I do not wish to frighten people, trust me I don't. But the whispers are so loud, and they spread so fast. Every soul that breathes across the darkest woods and the deepest seas knows who I am. They will meet me one day and their heart will stop while they knees give out and their hands clasp together as their heads bow down. I'm a God trapped in the body of a girl. I am someone with _power_. Some of the whispers call me _"Athena…"_

But I'm _**just**_ Clarke.


	2. The Archon Throne

"You have to listen to me, the council waits for a decisions tomorrow at sun rise. If you don't have one, a mutiny will not be overlooked, Clarke. I know these aren't the times of those we have read in books, the time of 'Pirate's. But their methods were strong and very efficient. You know they won't hesitate." I shook my head at her words, gripping my fists tightly at the edge of the wooden war table. I closed my eyes taking deep breaths as I heard her come closer, the body heat almost unbearable. I remembered the pain in my right temple and pressed a hand to it. I inhaled more slowly, taking in the smell of Polis. The wood fire and fresh fruits. Somewhere far away from war. Far away from that dark place that likes to form in my head. "Clarke, this is the only way you can possibly help your people. I have been playing this game for a very long time. I know that you know it is necessary." Her hands were at my face, gently holding it as her thumbs brushed my cheeks. I give into it, relaxing and placing my own hands over hers. I sigh into the palm of her right, kissing it softly. I opened my eyes and looked to her, hoping for her to move forward and kiss me, but I was met by a small hesitation and the falling of her hands.

"This is no time for weakness." There she was again. The once before 'Commander' and her soulless expressions. I hope one day she understands why I want to punch her again like I did last night. She makes me want to slam her against walls and beat her to a thread of her life, but I want her to hold me and help me protect my people. Or at least show me how.

"Clarke, please. Let me give the order for the warriors to march to your people's camp and take them. We need to look hostile to your people in order to protect them. The threats from the North and the Fox Tribe will only increase if they know of our affiliation with the Sky People and the stronghold of the alliance. Which is you. If it gets to such extreme measures, I'm afraid it'll be too late to save any lives then. We mu-", I cut her off, raising my hand and meeting her stare. "You are my advisor and a leader to my warriors. But you, not under any circumstances, have the right to overthrow my decisions and ignore my orders. You aren't the Commander anymore, Lexa." I stepped forward, pushing her body to walk back as the proximity between us shrunk.

"This is my regime. These our my people now and these woods our in my possession. I'm quite unfortunately in charge. Did you forget? I am the legend that fell from the sky. I earned my title, even if I didn't want it or feel uncomfortable in it, I know that I have to bear it. You taught me, don't you remember? Which is why you are my advisor in war times. Times like these. You are to listen to what I have to say, and then maybe outside of this tent and in our bedroom you can have control. But here, what I say goes." She was pinned harshly against the vine sewed pillar like many others that held up the white roof of the room. "Go. I'll send for you when I have made my decision." I saw the clenching of her jaw and the gulp she struggled on taking down before she gave a small nod and left the room. I watched her, my eyes roaming over her body for a moment before looking away.

She was built. Strong. Smart. Everything I could have asked for. Then she was ruthless, pushing, and hard headed. Everything I needed but did not exactly feel like dealing with. Lexa was my advisor, yes, she helped me after her fall as commander and I let her. She taught me the ways of war but it was nothing like she had taught me when we were plotting against the Mountain. Before the betrayal. She told me of the tribes outside of the 12 Clans. She told me the stories of all their ancestors and their rise to such a deathly position of power. Being Commander was not as high as being a ruler. A ruler governs and makes their own Commanders. A ruler is what I was now being pushed to be.

These people want me on the throne. A throne as old as the Nations itself. They believe I am the ruler that was spoken of in the tales of Legends told long before I came from the sky. A woman who ruled so powerfully and so viciously, the God Zeus himself put her in a test. A battle of three with a winner of won. And her name was Athena.

* * *

It was dark, the darkest I had ever witnessed in the fairly large room. The window that was to the left on my side had a drape of brown cloth over it, trapping the moonlight behind it. I turned to my other side, scooting closer into the sleeping brunette as I squeezed into her chest and tangled are bare legs. This woke her but only enough for her to open her arms, allowing our naked bodies to tangle in on another before the steady breathing came again. I made gentle kisses along her throat before closing my eyes, blocking out the heaviness I felt in my body but not my head. It was sleep deprivation. My body was weak, aching for healing and maybe a trip to the Celestial river. I wrapped an arm over Lexa's waist before letting my mind finally drift off along with my body. Tomorrow I finalize my decision. Tomorrow I get to see three of my people again. Maybe a little bruised, maybe a little broken, but always so powerful.

Tomorrow I get to see my friends.

Such a foreign word on a fresh tongue that's tasted nothing but blood and the stairs that take me to The Archon Throne.


End file.
